So it happens oftentimes in life that we are confronted with two laws that contradict each other.  A judgment has to be made.  It’s a matter of priorities.  Certainly the spiritual and physical well being of individuals takes precedent over exaggerated interpretations of inferior human laws and traditions.

Tuesday in the Second Week in Ordinary Time

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 27-28

M ark 2:23-28  One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. (24) And the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" (25) And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: (26) how he entered the house of God, when Abi'athar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?" (27) And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; (28) so the Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath."

Meditation by Howard Kalb, S.J.

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ---Mark 2:29

In the Gospel for today, our Lord gives us a marvelous example of how to act when confronted with contradictory laws.  Jesus and his disciples have been traveling on foot for quite a distance without anything to eat.  They were obviously famished.  So they did something I would bet many of us readers have done in our youth.

While passing down the road next to a field of grain, probably wheat, they were stripping the heads of grain (reaping) for the kernels of wheat.  Then rubbing the kernels in the palm of their hands (threshing) to separate the wheat from the chaff and blowing away (winnowing) the refuse they were ready (prepare a meal) to eat the kernels.  This was all legal according to the Pharisees and everyone else’s law.

Except it happened to be on the Sabbath and the Pharisees were watching them.  So they said to Jesus: “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”  According to the Pharisee’s interpretation of the Sabbath observance, all four activities were violations of the Sabbath law.  Jesus did not reprimand his disciples but joined them.

In reply, Jesus asks the Pharisees to remember what David did when his men were fainting with hunger.  They “ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat.”  Their hero and eminent observer of the law exempted his followers from observance of the letter of the law in order to protect them from physical harm.  The Pharisees had no response.  Jesus made his point. 

So it happens oftentimes in life that we are confronted with two laws that contradict each other.  A judgment has to be made.  It’s a matter of priorities.  Certainly the spiritual and physical well being of individuals takes precedent over exaggerated interpretations of inferior human laws and traditions.

In a similar way many insurmountable conflicts could be peacefully resolved if only people were willing to follow the principle that Jesus is teaching in this incident.  And how many times would we refrain from rashly judging our neighbors’ activities if we were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they had no choice in violating an inferior law or tradition in order to observe some more necessary law.

MATCHING INTERIORS

His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee . – Mark 1:28

A couple of years back, my wife and I went to the garage sale of a friend. Although we didn’t have any specific item in mind, we thought we might find some small items that we like.

We ended up with a couple of small items and a big one — a dining set. We fell in love with its glass top, dark brown body and leather cream upholstery. However, we noticed a problem when we were setting it up in our house. The set didn’t match our interiors! So what was supposed to be a simple dining table purchase resulted in the repainting of our walls, the installation of new curtains and a new sofa.

The Gospel today speaks about spreading the news about Christ. People have to see Him in all aspects of our lives if we want to be effective in sharing the Gospel. In the same way our dining set had to match with everything else in the room, people have to see that our lives in church or in community harmonize with the persons that we are when we’re in secular places.

Jesus should affect not only one area of our life but our whole being. Alvin Fabella (alvinfabella@yahoo.com)

REFLECTION:

Is your life’s witness consistent?

Lord, I entrust to You my life and ask You to take the lead. Let me be a faithful witness for You. Amen.